Transcoding is a common process that converts a source media from one format to another. For example, transcoding the content on a blu-ray disc to MP4 format which is playable on a tablet or a smart phone. This change of format includes one or more changes in video compression format, video resolution, video frame rate, video data rate, audio compression format, audio sampling rate and audio data rate. Transcoding is a computation intensive and very time-consuming task. The time for transcoding depends on the data amount and the complexity of the compression format.
Video Transcoding generally refers to the digital to digital conversion of data. Most of the times, transcoding a video is done due to the circumstances such as the target device does not support the format that the original data is in, the target device has a reduced capacity such that the capacity of the original file will have to be reduced so that it can fit to the new format and in order to convert incompatible and obsolete file types into a modern format that is better supported by the new device. The process of video transcoding is normally a two-step process. The first part of the process is decoding. This is whereby the original data is transferred to an uncompressed format. The second part of the process is the re-encoding whereby the data will now be transferred to the new device in the desired format.
Various methods for video transcoding has been devised in art; some of the measures are as follows:
US20110274155 relates to video coding and in particular, but not exclusively, to an apparatus, method, and system for distributing video transcoding in a communication network.
US20130049998 relates to transcoding of files containing digital information with plurality of transcoding nodes for transcoding a digital file based on a comparison of a transcoding profile for the digital file.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,037,674 depicts a method of processing information content from a content provider, wherein the computer generates a plurality of pre-transcoded files based on the content, having respectively different formats and the computer receives a request to send the content to a user, and determines a format based on characteristics of the user.
The present invention overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art by providing a method for video transcoding in a distributed manner.